A New Beginning
by Jonne Aaro
Summary: Daryl and Connie notice that they have feelings for each other and their relationship gets stronger quickly but it takes a big step back after the communities suffer a major loss. Can Daryl have a new beginning with Connie?
1. Chapter 1

Almost two years had been since the war against war ended. Now they were living peacefully and rebuilding the society. Daryl had moved to Hilltop after he quitted being the leader of the saviors. During his time in Hilltop Gregory was hanged by him and Maggie for trying to have Maggie killed. Daryl now had a dog that he found in the woods during the supply run. A new group arrived to Hilltop a couple weeks ago. Daryl didn´t pay much attention to them but one of the group members was looking at Daryl. However Daryl introduced himself to the new group. The new group has five members named Magna, Yumiko, Connie, Kelly and Luke.

The new group was very helpful with building a new bridge. The bridge was almost ready but there was a new problem since some of the saviors had deserted last night. At the bridge Henry arrives to bring water to the workers. Justin one of the hostile saviors demands more water and shoves Henry down for not giving him extra water. Angered Henry gets up and knocks him down with his stick. Other saviors nearby laugh and mock Justin.

Justin gets up to retaliate but he is stopped by Daryl. "Hey, the kid is just doing his job. Get back to work!" Daryl commands.

"You are not my babysitter anymore" Justin says and swings at Daryl. Daryl dodges his swing and punches back knocking Justin down. Justin throws sand in Daryl´s face and attacks him. They start fighting. Jed, the other savior tries to attack Daryl but he is stopped by Aaron.

Rick arrives to stop the fight. He tells everyone to get back to work. He takes Daryl with him to his tent to calm him down, reminding him that they need the saviors to help in building the bridge. Daryl tells him that the saviors will never fall in line just because he says so. Rick then says that he wants everyone to be on the same side. Daryl asks if they actually are before leaving.

"Trouble in paradise?" Carol asks.

"It´s complicated" Rick answer.

Carol then advises Rick to talk to Daryl after he´s calmed down. Alden then shows up to tell Rick that none of the deserted saviors made it back to the sanctuary and their families are worried. Tara radios Rick to warn him that second siren didn´t go off and the herd is coming.

Walkers arrive at the labor site and a commotion ensues. Jed panics and lets go of a rigging rope, allowing a giant log to pin Aaron to the ground. Daryl yells the others to lift the log while he kills the nearest walkers. Rick, Magna, Yumiko, Connie, Carol, Ezekiel and others arrive to help. Daryl and Connie help with lifting the log but Aaron´s arm is crushed. Connie helps Daryl carry Aaron the camp meanwhile Rick and the others stay behind to fight the walkers. Rick shoots a rope restraining a log pile, loosing an avalanche of logs to crush the remaining walkers.

Daryl and Connie rush Aaron to the infirmary where Enid decides that they need to amputate. Aaron reluctantly agrees as Daryl ties the tourniquet. Enid then amputates his arm with a bone saw. Daryl thanks Connie and asks her to stay with Aaron. Daryl quickly finds out that Justin was supposed to sound the second siren. Daryl goes to confront Justin about it.

Justin claims that the radio wasn´t charged.

"Bullshit!" Daryl says and punches him in the face repeatedly and hit him with a frying pan. Carol pegs him to stop as the rest of the camp watches.

At Hilltop Maggie tells Michonne that she´s open to creating common laws. She tells her that her father used to drink like Earl, the man who attacked her after being manipulated by Gregory. She tells her that Gregory had several chances to change but he didn´t.

Atthe camp Rick tells Justin to take his things and leave "If I ever see you again, stitches won´t fix what I do to you." Rick says. Justin claims that he is happily leaving.

Later as Justin hears something and sees someone he recognizes. He asks what they are doing out here but he is killed violently.

Rick visits Aaron before leaving Alexandria. Rick tells him that he´s sorry but Aaron say that´s it´s okay. Rick then leaves. Daryl and Connie stay behind with Aaron.

"Thank you again for your help" Daryl says to Connie. Connie gives a smile. Her smile made him smile back at her. Daryl doesn´t even realize that he spends five minutes just staring at her. Daryl turns his head away when Connie turns her head to him hoping that she didn´t notice him looking at her. Connie catches him and just smiles when Daryl turns his head away from her.

Enid the comes back to the tent and assures that Aaron will be okay. "Alright, I´ll head back home" Daryl says and then turns to Connie and asks "You wanna come home too?" Connie nods while smiling.

When they get to Hilltop they realize that Kelly still isn´t there. Connie panics and heads back out. Daryl whistles and Dog runs to the gate. Daryl and Dog then follow Connie. Daryl touches Connie´s shoulder and says "We´ll find her." Connie was happy and a bit surprised to see him. Luckily they soon find tracks and after following them for a while they find injured Kelly.

Connie rushes to hug Kelly. Kelly reveals that she´s losing her hearing and tears start to come from her eyes. Connie comforts her by signing "Being deaf isn´t a disability, it´s a superpower."

"We should go back home" Daryl says and helps Connie carry Kelly back home. As they get inside the gates Magna, Yumiko and Luke arrive to help. Daryl stays back as Luke takes his place carrying Kelly. Connie looks back at Daryl as she, and her group are walking toward infirmary.

Connie stays all night with Kelly and she was thinking about Daryl a lot. She saw today the he had really good heart and she thought that he might like her. Connie really wanted to know more about him. Daryl couldn´t sleep. After a shitty day Connie was all he could think of and he felt bad about since Aaron lost an arm today. Daryl had never before had these kind of feelings. "There is something special about her and I… I kind of like her" Daryl in his mind.

The next morning Rick wakes up and kisses Michonne. On his way down the stairs, he touches Carl´s handprint. He then strolls through Alexandria. Later he returns to his house and thanks Michonne for being amazing and for everything she does. He suggests that they could find other ways of buildin for future, implying having a baby. Michonne kisses him and they make love.

Meanwhile at Hilltop Daryl walks toward the gate and sees Connie sitting at the table. Daryl goes to her and asks "Is Kelly okay?"

"She will be okay, Thank you for helping me find her" Connie writes.

"I´m happy to help" Daryl says.

Connie gives another smile but she stop Daryl when he is leaving by touching his hand. Daryl´s heart starts to race a lot faster after Connie touches his hand. He sees that she is writing. Soon she hands him the note "Sorry about not thanking you before. I´ll be staying her for the next couple days for Kelly."

"Hey, you don´t have to be sorry about that. I have to go to the bridge" Daryl says. But before Daryl has time to leave Connie gives him another note saying "See you in the evening." Daryl couldn´t hide his smile and says "Yeah."

Later that day Maggie and Kal are bringing food to the sanctuary. They are stopped by a small group of saviors, who question her about the missing saviors. Jed steals a tomato. Maggie says she´ll mark him down for it while the other saviors let her pass. Suddenly they notice a zombibied Justin stumbling onto the road.

Back in Alexandria, Rick and Michonne spend a family day with Judith playing, having a picnic and reading stories. Suddenly Scott runs up and infroms them that Maggie found Justin as a walker and it didn´t look like and accident. Rick then gets ready to go to the camp before anything else happens.


	2. Chapter 2

At the camp, the saviors are furious about Justin´s death. Alden tries to calm the saviors down and promises that they will find out who did but he´s punched in the face by Jed, claiming that he isn´t one of them anymore. Carol steps in with her gun at her hip, stopping Jed. Some of the saviors blame Jadis for killing Justin because of her past with saviors, some blame Daryl because of the fight yesterday. The saviors demand weapons to protect themselves.

"No guns" Daryl yells shutting the demand down.

The saviors then grab axes and knives preparing to attack, but Arat runs to warn them that they won´t get far if they do something stupid. Daryl says "They won´t" and aim his crossbow at armed saviors. Rosita, Carol, Dianne and a lot of others take their guns aim them at armed saviors.

Rick hears a lot yelling and hurries up to stop the riot before it escalates too far. Rick rides in the middle of the group with his gun drawn and tells everyone to back off. Things calm down after Laura and Arat help disarming the saviors.

After making sure things calm down Rick questions Gabriel about Jadis´s whereabout during last night. Gabriel tells Rick that she was with him all night. Rick then tells Gabriel to keep an eye out for her just in case. Alden then asks Rick if some of the saviors can get weapons but Rick shuts the idea down.

Maggie asks Rick who he thinks killend Justin and Rick looks at Daryl. Rick goes to talk to Daryl about it. Rick tell him that Justin was killed with an arrow or bolt. Daryl asks Rick "You really think I did it" before saying that he would have killed in plain sight if he was going to do so. Rick answer "No, but others do. I´m just making sure."

Daryl then asks Rick why do the savior deserve to have a new beginning while their dead friends didn´t have a chance. Daryl claims that the saviors can never be trusted. Rick tells him that it´s the right thing to do and that future now belongs to everyone.

Daryl prepares to leave but he is stopped by Rick who asks him to try to accept the future they are building with the saviors. Rick then finishes by saying "Maybe it will be one of the best decisions you ever make, like not killing the guy who left your brother on a rooftop to die."

In the woods Maggie and Cyndie head to an abandoned house with a noisy roof which has attracted a small group of walkers. Maggie distracts them as Cyndie investigates. Another group of walkers break out of the barred up front door. Maggie runs over to kill them. Cyndie is almost bitten but she is saved by Rick, Daryl and Rosita who save her.

They check on Beatrice over the walkie but receive no response, so they try to find her. It doesn´t take long for them to find her, but she is unconscious. When she wakes up she tells them that Arat is missing. Daryl and Maggie continue to look for Arat while Rick and the others head back to the camp.

Maggie admits to Daryl the Rick is doing the right thing for the future and Daryl agrees to it. Later they find a walker that has the same wound Justin had. "I know who took Arat" Daryl says.

They arrive to the building with sign "Final warning" to find Cyndie and group Oceanside holding Arat on her knees for execution. Arat begs for her life but Cyndie reveals that this place was their home until the saviors came. She tells them Justin killed Beatrice´s husband and Arat killed Cyndie´s 10 year old brother. Arat starts crying, claiming that she had no choice but Cyndie reminds her how the smiled after killing her brother. Arat begs Daryl and Maggie to help her again but they walk away as Cyndie stabs her in the head with a spear.

While walking toward Hilltop Maggie tells Daryl that they gave Rick´s way a chance and it´s time to see Negan. Daryl simply tells her "yeah."

When they arrive Hilltop Daryl sees Dog sleeping with it´s head on Connie´s lap. Just seeing Connie made Daryl forget his bad day. He remember Rick´s words "Maybe it will be one the best decisions you ever make." Daryl then thought about telling Connie about his feeling "Could that be one of those decisions?" Daryl asks himself.

Daryl starts walking towards her "Is it too soon to tell her that? What if she doesn´t feel the same?" Daryl asks himself. Daryl pets Dog before sitting next to Connie. Connie was happy too see Daryl again.

"Seems like Dog already likes you better" Daryl says.

"I like Dog too" Connie writes on her notepad.

Daryl thought about Rick´s words and telling about his feelings again but he eventually decides that now isn´t the right time for it.

"How was your day?" Daryl asks her.

"Had a good day, played with Dog and Kelly got out of infirmary. How was yours?" Connie asks Daryl.

"Not too good, but everything will fine" Daryl says.

They then sit in silence and look at the moon. Daryl waits for moment before he turns his head to Connie. "She is really beautiful. Would she really be with someone like me?" Daryl asks himself.

Daryl just couldn´t get his eyes from her but Daryl quickly looks away when Connie turns her head to him. Connie could see the embarrasment in his face and that made her smile. Daryl was still looking away but when he finally turned his head to Connie he could see that she was still looking at him. There was a long moment they looked each other in the eyes. Connie´s hand was almost touching Daryl´s hand as she was slowly moving her hand closer to his. Daryl was thinking about Rick´s words and his feeling again. His heart wanted to tell her but his head told him again that now is not the right time.

"I should go get some sleep" Daryl tells Connie.

Daryl could see that she wasn´t smiling anymore so he added "See you in the morning." That made her smile again. Their hands touched softly as Daryl stood up. As Daryl was walking toward his trailer he turns back and waves at Connie who waves back at him.

Connie was still sitting at the porch after Daryl entered his trailer. Connie wished that their moment would have lasted longer. She thought about telling about her feeling but he left just before. "He´s so innocent and awkwardly cute around me. Has he ever been anyone with before?" Connie thinks in her mind.

Daryl couldn´t sleep much. All he could think about was Connie but it was already almost time to head back to the bridge. It was early morning and Daryl saw Connie and Dog at the table outside. They were the only ones awake and that made Daryl happy knowing it would be just him and Connie.

Daryl saw Connie writing something. Daryl´s heart started beating faster he read her note "You look like you didn´t sleep much." Daryl waited for a while before saying. "Yeah, I didn´t sleep much." Daryl could see Connie smiling and Daryl instantly thought to himself "Does she know why I didn´t sleep her?" He didn´t dare to ask. He then says "Take care of Dog. I´ll be back in the evening"

Connie watched as he walked out of the gate. "Was he really thinking about me during the night?" Connie asks herself. The thought of it made her really happy.

At the camp Eugene updates Rick on the status of the rising river in relation to their bridge construction. He apologizes for the bad news but Rick reminds him how valuable he is, making him smile.

Inside the main tent, Carol tells Rick that she is taking her people back to the Kingdom while the Sanctuary figures out who they want to be. He tearfully accepts her decision and looks down in sadness. Jerry runs in to warn Rick about Maggie´s march to Alexandria. Rick immediately radios Rachel to warn his people not to let Maggie into the community, but she ignores his request.

Daryl overhears Rick and offers to take him to Alexandria himself. On the road, Daryl rides past the turn and Rick angrily tells him to pull over. Rick asks him what is he doing. Daryl reveals that he messed with the relay so Maggie will be allowed into Alexandria to kill Negan. Rick tries to use his radio but Daryl knock it out of his hand and the two wrestle until they roll into a giant pit.

In the pit, Rick and Daryl argue over the merits of keeping Negan alive. Daryl reminds Rick about everything Negan did to them and evryone he killed. Rick then says if they martyr Negan everyone died for nothing inclunding Carl.

"I´d die for you and I would have died for Carl. You know that." Daryl tells him

"Teary eyed Rick answer "I never asked anyone to follow me"

"Maybe you should have" Daryl says.

They finally make peace and they hug "I´m sorry brother" Daryl says.

"It´s okay" Rick says

They then hear gun shots and walker start to fall into the pit. They kill a punch of walkers and pile them up to make the climbing easier. They struggle to climb out. Rick finally crawls out of it and uses a tree branch to get Daryl out as well.

"Brother, take my hand Rick says.

After reaching as much as they can Rick helps Daryl to climb out. With the horde building near the camp. Daryl suggest that they could use the bridge so the walkers would break the bridge and the walkers would fall in the river. Rick disagrees and makes a plan to lead them away. Rick sees a horse nearby.

"Be safe" Daryl tells Rick

"You too" Rick answers.

As Rick is leading the horde away, he gets blocked by another horde. Rick´s horse panics and throws him into a pile of concrete rubble. He lands hard on a slab, impaled on a piece of rebar through his side. Rick cries in pain but loses consciousness as the walkers close in.

Rick hallucinates himself in a hospital where he talks to his past self telling him to wake up. Rick looks outside and sees flock of birds outside transforming into helicopters and then looks down to find his abdomen covered in blood. His past jokingly tells him to wake up.

In reality, Rick wakes up, still pinned to the rebar, with walkers closing in, Rick uses his belt to painfully lift himself off of it. He crawls himself back on his horse and barely escapes the horde. After a while leading the horde away Rick spots a small cabin and heads there. Rick finds a tablecloth and uses is it as a tourniquet. He then passes out. He dreams about Shane, who compliments him for killing Joe and Gareth but asks why he let Negan live. Shane encourages him to find the his rage and "get it done."

Rick apologizes Shane for what he did to him. Shane tells him to forget that and tells him to wake up. In reality Rick barely escapes and gets back on his horse. On the road Rick hallucinates again and sees Hershel. Rick embraces him and apologizes for what happened to his family. Rick tells him that he need to find his family. Hershel tells him that he just needs to wake up.

Rick wakes up again and is thrown off the horse at the work camp, which has been abandoned as bodies litter the campsite. Rick uses his gun to kill the reanimated two Oceanside girls and one Kingdommer. Rick uses all of his strenght to get up and head toward bridge. Suddenly Daryl, Maggie, Carol, Ezekiel and other runs past him to kill the walkers. Michonne stops and sees Rick´s wound. She reminds him she fell in love with him because he´s a fighter. Michonne tells him that she loves very much and Rick says "This isn´t real." Michonne kisses him and says "It is. Now wake up." Rick wakes up alone in front of the bridge.

The walkers approach as Rick hobbles away. He makes it across the bridge and turns around hoping to see the walkers fall through, to no avail. A walker makes it inches away from Rick before getting shot in the head by a crossbow bolt. Rick watches as Daryl, Michonne, Maggie and the rest arrive nearby. Michonne and Maggie hatch a plan to divert the walkers but Rick won´t allow it. Rick notices a dynamite on the bridge, takes aim, and says to himself "I found them" before shooting and igniting the dynamite. The bridge ignites and explodes as Michonne and the rest can only watch in horror. Assuming Rick is dead, Michonne screams out, trying to get to him while Maggie and Carol hold her back and comfort her. Daryl weeps while walking away to the woods.

Meanwhile Jadis waiting for a helicopter to pick her up and her supposed "A" she spots a wounded Rick on the riverbank, still alive. She radios that she has a "B" and he needs help and she just trying to save a friends. They agree to her deal and lower the helicopter. Inside Rick wakes up hooked into medical equipment and Jadis assures him he´ll be fine.

Maggie and Jesus arrive to Hilltop and Connie gets excited expecting to see Daryl again. She then see from their expressions that something has happened. She sees heartbroken Maggie and Jesus. She´shocked to hear about Rick´s death. Connie asks about Daryl. Maggie tells that she doesn´t know where he is or if he´s alive

Connie falls onto her knees tears coming her eyes. Magna, Yumiko, Kelly, Luke and Dog all arrive to comfort her.


	3. Chapter 3

Connie was in shock, she couldn´t believe what Maggie just told her. She instantly regretted not telling about her feelings to Daryl and now she would never have the chance to do that. She ran into Daryl´s trailer with Dog following her. Dog must have sensed that something happened to his partner. Connie saw Daryl vest on the bed. He must have forgotten it. Connie never saw Daryl without his vest but now it was all she had left of him. She put the vest on, it was too big but it didn´t matter. Connie saw Dog whimpering while laying on the ground. Connie kneeled down to pet Dog, soon her tears were dropping on Dog.

Meanwhile Maggie was feeling guilty about Rick´s death. She thought about the plan she made with Daryl to kill Negan. Maybe everything would be different if she didn´t do that Maggie thought in her mind. The fact that she left Negan alive didn´t make her feel any better. She thought about Georgie´s offer to move to a different community far away.

Meanwhile in Alexandria Michonne was heartbroken. She still couldn´t believe what happened. She wasn´t ready tell Judith just yet. She wanted her to have one more good day. But she had to remain strong to protect Judith and build the future Rick and Carl wanted. Tomorrow she would tell Judith about Rick. She couldn´t sleep at all. Next morning Michonne walks into Judith´s room and she´s awake and drawing

"Judith, I need to tell you something" Michonne said trying to hold her tears back. As Judith saw the look on Michonne´s face the smile disappeared from her face. Michonne takes Judith into her arms and hugs her saying. "Your father is… he´s dead. He died saving everyone." Michonne says with tears coming down on her cheeks. Judith didn´t fully understand the meaning of death but she started to cry knowing that she would never see her father again.

As weeks pass by there was still not a sign from Rick. Michonne was determined to find him to get closure. Michonne returns to the riverbank and finds Rick´s gun there. She spent more time trying to find him after learning that she was pregnant.

Meanwhile at Hilltop Jesus had become the leader after Maggie left to Georgie´s community. She promised that she would return some day. Connie was still wearing Daryl´s vest but they way she felt, still hadn´t gotten any easier. She spent weeks looking for Daryl with Dog but they didn´t find any signs. She asked Jesus to contact Alexandria and the Kingdom but Jesus tells her that they haven´t seen or heard from Daryl since Rick sacrificed himself.

Months pass by and there stillhasn´t been any signs from Rick or Daryl. At Alexandria Michonne sees a familiar face at the gate with several children and a man.

"Michonne?" she asks

"Jocelyn?" Michonne asks and the two share a hug.

The man introduces himself as John and Jocelyn´s boyfriend. A Couple days later Jocelyn, John and the kids were already fitting in well. Michonne and Jocelyn were talking about their high scool time together and how they never saw each other after that. Michonne then tells her that she´s impressed with the kids´ hunting skills. Jocelyn tells her that kids are capable of anything.

Judith, and the other community kids enjoy a bonfire with Jocelyn´s kid group. They plan to have big sleepover tonight and John agrees to it.

Next morning Michonne, Aaron and other residents go to pick up their kids from a sleepover. They knock the door but no one comes to open it. As they enter the house they discover that Jocelyn, John and the kids are gone. Michonne panics and searches for Judith everywhere. She finds a resident murdered by the pantry, which has been raided. Frankie rushes over to Michonne to informs her that the infirmary has also been raided and all their supplies are missing. Michonne them finds bloody footprints and follows them to a manhole, which is wide open.

Michonne heads out alone to find Judith. After walking for a while she spots a figure nearby and walks toward it. The figure is just sitting with his back toward Michonne. Michonne doesn´t recognize the figure since he´s wearing a cape and has a hood over his head. The figure then stands up and turns toward Michonne.

After seeing Michonne the figure takes off the hood. Michonne was surprised, relieved and happy to see and old friend she thought was died on that day too.

"Daryl?" Michonne says.

They share quick hug.

"Judith is missing" Michonne says.

"Let´s go find her" Daryl says.

They take a break nearby an abandoned school.

"I thought I would never see you again" Michonne says.

"I´m sorry I left like that. I just couldn´t come back until I find him. I followed the river to the ocean and back and found nothing."

"Will you stay now after we find Judith? She has been asking about you." Michonne says.

"I don´t know" Daryl answers. He wanted to stay. He thought about Connie and how he never returned Hilltop and letting her think he was dead. He wasn´t sure if he could stay home anymore.

Michonne laments how stupid she was to trust an old friends but Daryl tells her that she could´t know what she is like because she is nothing like her and that some people just have too much evil in their heart.

They then spot one of Jocelyn´s kids and they chase her to an abandoned school until they´re met by all of the kids in a hallway. Daryl gets shot in the shoulder with an arrow and Michonne is knocked unconscious.

Later they wake up bloodied and tied to a pipe. One of the kids painfully brands an iron X on Daryl while Jocelyn tells Michonne that kids can´t be soft. Michonne is then branded by other kids. After being branded Daryl and Michonne are left alone and they break free and split up. Michonne sees Jocelyn and demands to know where Judith is. One of the kids then points Michonne´s own katana at her. Michonne is able disarm her and grabs her katana as the kids flee. Michonne finds an exit is beaten couple times with wooden plank by Jocelyn. Michonne summons her strenght to stab her in leg and the chest killing her. Michonne tells the kids that they can return to Alexandria. The kids still attack her and Michonne is forced to kill the kids one by one.

Meanwhile Daryl is chasing John but is stopped by another group of kids with one of them pointing his own crossbow at him. The kid misses his stop and Daryl is able to get his crossbow back. The kids flee with Daryl chasing them. As they exit the school Daryl is attacked by John who starts beating him. The kids watch as they fight. Eventually Daryl gains the upperhand and pushes John to the ground and strangles him to death. As Daryl gets up he is attacked by the kids and Daryl is forced to kill them one by one.

Michonne calls for Judith. Judith eventually emerges from trailer with the other Alexanria kids and happily embraces her mom. At the same Daryl arrives to Michonne and Judith. Judith is surprised and happy too her uncle again. They all head back to Alexandria

At Alexandria the kids are reunited with their parents. Everyone is surprised to see Daryl and ask him to stay but Daryl is still planning to leave since his mission to find Rick wasn´t complete yet.

Michonne radios Hilltop and the Kingdom that Daryl is alive and in Alexandria. Michonne asks Connie to travel in Alexandria.

Jesus informs Connie about Daryl being alive in Alexandria. Connie writes a note "I´m leaving to Alexandria."

Connie goes inform Kelly and the rest of her closest ones. Kelly wants to come with her and she happily agrees. Kelly, Magna, Yumiko and Luke were all happy to see Connie being happy again. She was a full of life again. Connie leaves with Kelly and Dog.

Connie, Kelly and Dog arrive in Alexandria in the evening. Connie´s heart was beating faster and faster. A part of her was afraid that Daryl was still gone.

"Daryl, someone is outside for you" Michonne says with a serious voice not revealing that is´s Connie.

Daryl slowly walks toward the door and as he opens he sees Connie, Kelly and Dog. Daryl feels tears coming from his eyes and walks toward Connie and they share a really long hug. Neither of them wants to let go. It didn´t matter that a lot of people were watching. Daryl and Connie felt like they were alone.


	4. Chapter 4

In the evening Daryl was sitting in his room. He wanted to tell Connie everything but he felt like he needed to settle in again. It was the first time he stepped in the communities since Rick died. Daryl decided to tell Connie why he left.

Suddenly he hears a knock on his door. Daryl heart started to beat fast when he saw it was Connie. Daryl invited her in telling her he wants to tell her something. Connie nodded and sat down next to Daryl.

"I´m so sorry I left like that. Rick… He was my brother. I just wanted to find him after. I-" Daryl said until his voice broke. He couldn´t continue. Connie starts to write and shows Daryl the note "I´m so sorry for your loss"

Daryl looked at Connie who also had tears in her eyes. "I never found him. He can´t be dead. Not him." Daryl says eventually. Connie puts her hands on Daryl cheecks trying to comfort him. Daryl caressed her hands with his.

"I´m sorry I-"

But before Daryl could finish Connie shook her head. She knew how close Daryl was with Rick. If she lost Kelly like that she would probably do the same.

Connie was still holding her hands on Daryl´s cheeks and Daryl was still caressing her hands. Suddenly Daryl heard Dog coming upstairs. As Dog entered Daryl´s room Daryl got up and rushed to hug is old friend. Dog licked his face.

"Good to see you too" Daryl says.

Connie wished their moment lasted longer but she was happy to see Daryl with Dog again. She smiled for the first for a long time.

The next morning Daryl decided to tell Connie how he felt. He couldn´t wait any longer. Not after last evening.

Daryl saw Connie talking with Kelly. Daryl walked toward them and waved at them as he saw them looking at him. They waved back and Connie was smiling to see him. Kelly saw this and raised her eyebrows.

"Can we talk?" Daryl asks her"

Connie nods and Kelly raises her eyebrows again and leaves Connie with Daryl. Daryl looked around to see if anyone was looking at them but he didn´t see anyone.

"There something I need to tell you" Daryl started.

"I wanted to tell you this last evening. This is the first time ever I have these kind of feelings for anyone. I was just scared that you wouldn´t feel-"

Before Daryl could finish Connie interrupted him by kissing him on the lips. Daryl was stunned. He couldn´t believe what just happened.

Connie then showed him the note "I love you too"

Daryl finally kissed her back and the kiss was long and passionate. They both could feel the emotion behind each other´s kiss.

That´s when Daryl knew that telling her was one of the best decisions he ever made, maybe even the best.

There was still a lot of about him that Connie didn´t know. She hadn´t seen his scars. She didn´t know his father was the one caused them all expect the one he got when he was looking for Judith.

Couple weeks passed by and they have had a lot of time together. Daryl still hadn´t told her about the scars but he was trying to learn sign language in secret. He wanted to communicate with her better

Meanwhile Michonne was giving birth for her and Rick´s child. It was a boy. Michonne hugged her baby and had tears in her eyes. He remind her of Rick a lot. He had blue eyes just like his father. She decided to name him after Rick. She would call him RJ.

Later Daryl and Connie came to visit her and RJ. Daryl took his nephew in arms and hugged him. "You look just like your father."

Connie gives Michonne a note"He´s beautiful"

"Thank you" Michonne signs.

Connie was surprised to see her sign but Michonne told her that she didn´t know much else now. Daryl then gives RJ to Connie who hugs him and holds him for a while before giving him back to Michonne.

Michonne was surprised to see how Daryl acted around and Connie and eventually asks "Are you two together?"

This catches Daryl and Connie off guard but Connie smiles and nods. Michonne looks at Daryl and then says "I´m happy for you, both of you"

"You know that this makes you his aunt" Michonne tells Connie. Connie was happy to hear that from Michonne and the two share a hug.

Connie always wanted to havea child of her own. Daryl was the first man she thought she could have a child with.

Later in the evening after Daryl took a shower. Connie walks in and sees the scars on Daryl´s back. She notices the scars are old except one. She was shocked. Daryl noticed and realized it was the time to tell her.

"I´ve never told this to anyone. Those scars on my back. It was my father. He was an asshole. He used to beat me up a lot when I was 10 years old"

Connie´s hand were shaking when she began to write "I´m sorry that happened to you."

Daryl took her in his arms and they started to make out. Daryl knew it was time to go forward with this relationship. He had never sex before but now it was time for it. Daryl let Connie be in charge in bed and Connie was happy about that. Daryl felt better than ever. Feeling Connie´s beautiful warm body next to him. He was exhausted after the sex but it felt so good. He could see Connie felt the same. They wrapped their arms around each other and kissed many times before falling asleep.

Next morning at the breakfast table Kelly noticed that something different with Daryl and Connie so she asked "How was the sex?"

Daryl and Connie but blushed and look at each other with a suggestive smile.

"Oh, I understand" Kelly said teasing the new couple.

"I´m happy for you" Kelly says. Daryl and Connie both thank her.

Meanwhile panicked Aaron and Jesus make it back to Hilltop from their supply run. They reveal that they heard the walkers were whispering to each other. The other couldn´t believe what they just heard but they look on Aaron and Jesus´face told it all.

There was a big debate wheter the walkers were evolving or they were people. They radioed Alexandria and the Kingdom about the new possible threat. The fair was coming very soon and everyone wanted to be sure it would be safe for everyone


End file.
